Department of Archaeology

Research Profile: Derek Congram

Derek Congram completed his PhD in archaeology at Simon Fraser University in 2010.

He writes:

Since 1999 I have been working as a forensic archaeologist and anthropologist. This has entailed the usually criminal investigation of crimes involving the disappearance and death of civilians, but also soldiers. I have worked for different groups including the United Nations, the US, Costa Rican and British Columbian legal authorities, non-governmental organizations and legal defence counsel. I have conducted forensic work in about eight countries including Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iraq.

My work typically involves the search for and recovery of human remains (eg, excavation of mass graves) and their subsequent analysis.

My PhD research involved helping with the search for missing civilians from the Spanish Civil War — there are tens of thousands of them, mostly from 1936–1937. It’s a private, grass-roots initiative by families of victims, and the Spanish government, according to the United Nations, has shirked its legal responsibilities of investigating these missing civilians. In fact, a Spanish judge for whom I served briefly as an advisor is on trial for attempting to investigate the controversial issue.

To complicate matters further, an Argentine judge is investigating whether or not the Spanish government has been negligent in their failure to investigate. This is a result of Spanish families who fled the war, immigrated to Argentina and who have now petitioned the Argentine courts to act on their behalf investigating their missing family members. The surviving children of the victims are now very elderly and so attention to their cause is really quite urgent.

I am currently doing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command’s Central Identification Laboratory (JPAC-CIL), which is based in Hawai’i. JPAC is a branch of the US Navy that is tasked with the search, recovery, identification and repatriation of US personnel who have died in past conflicts overseas (mostly Korea, Vietnam, WWII).

Comment received. Comments may be moderated and will appear upon approval.

No comments yet

Recent Blog Posts

Summer Research Fellowship: St Andrews Visiting Scholars Scheme December 13, 2017
The Visiting Scholarships are intended to give researchers at any level access to the University of St Andrews Library's extensive Special Collections. Successful candidates will receive financial support up to a maximum of £1,500 to cover travel and accommodation for a period of 2-8 weeks between July 1 and August 31, 2018. Apply by January 12, 2018.

Nominations Open for Sterling Prize in Support of ControversyDecember 13, 2017
Nominations are now being accepted for the Nora and Ted Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy.
The prize is awarded annually for work that presents new daring and creative ways of looking at the world. Submit nominations for consideration by February 15, 2018.